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Aug 29

SNIPPETS OF A SUNDAY

It’s been a while since we’ve been home for a weekend. Time has flown lately and only a whisp of summer is left. We’ve had visitors, family trips, vacations, work trips, nap training, nap jail, sleeping through the night at last!! It’s been a whirlwind to say the least. But this past Sunday was one of those deliciously lazy, weather-perfect Sonoma Sundays with nothing and everything to do. So we spent it doing what we loved most: antiques, good eats, family, naps, good wine and slow Sonoma time. Here are some snippets from our Sunday.

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1. Mexican hot cocoa at one of my all time favs, Bovolo 2. Freshly made donuts from Bovolo, i.e. Cocoa dippers 3. Little man & mama 4. Bovolo breakfast sandwich with house made bacon 5. Vintage vinyl time 6. Little man rides high at the Healdsburg Antique Fair 7. Basil extras from our backyard herb garden 8. Fresh batch of basil oil 9. Caprese salad with said fresh oil-divine! 10. Vinyl art 11. Grilled Dinner 12. Little man’s favorite time of day 13. Red wine and good reads.

xo, eve

Jul 8

VINEYARD PHOTO SHOOT

A few weeks ago, we attended a free KRSH concert at Kunde Winery where Brett Dennen was playing. We gathered up a few friends, packed a picnic, secured the last shady spot in the area and opened some Kunde Sauvignon Blanc, while grooving to tunes and letting the wee ones crawl all around. It was a lovely time and there is another free KRSH winery concert this weekend at St. Francis Winery. I’m not sure if we’ll be attending this weekend’s concert as I’m trying VERY hard to not plan anything for just one weekend, but who knows. We’re known to get a little stir crazy in the house on the weekends, most especially when the weather is this nice and there are al fresco free tunes involved. In the meantime, here are some snapshots we took in the vineyards that day. Enjoy and happy Friday!


Jul 6

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A NIGHT AT THE MARKET

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to make the Wednesday night Petaluma Farmers Market. The stars aligned just right today (barely) and I was hightailing it downtown early this evening with the little man. The weather here has been gorgeous lately – a tad hot, but just right for this southern girl – so I loaded little man into his stroller and decided to make an evening of it, texting the boy on my way in hopes he might be able to meet us there for dinner. Our texts went like this:

{me} Farmers Market! Tonight! Meet us there?

{him} Indeed!

{me} Crepes!

{him} Sunshine!

{me} Cranky Baby!

Two of us were clearly excited to renew this weekly tradition now that our incessant travels have come to a standstill for the moment. The third was just along for the cranky ride.

And the market was lovely. Petaluma competes with Santa Rosa’s Wednesday night market – which draws a much larger crowd – so sometimes I am a little bummed at the lack of quantity and quality of vendors at P-Town’s market. But those vendors that do show up are passionate and wonderful and I’m so thankful to live somewhere that I even have access to something such as this. Whenever we entertain thoughts of moving somewhere where pizza doesn’t cost $8 (see below), I always remember evenings like this and come back to the ultimate realization that we are living our dream, right now, right here.

Our market night in photos:

1st up: wood-fired Margherita pizza from Pizza Politana. Absolutely finger-licking delicious.

The Amy Hogan Trio was on stage tonight and she was absolutely lovely. Little man and I even contributed to the tip jar after sitting and watching for a while. Loved them!

Market Schwag for the evening. Clockwise from left:

Lavendar Honey from Hector’s Honey of Fulton, CA. A bit of a splurge, I plan to drizzle this on fresh figs that have been dolloped with goat cheese. Nom nom nom nom…

Kale from Petaluma Bounty, picked fresh just this morning. Organic, of course. My favorite way to prepare Kale is a la Alice Waters: saute wet, chopped kale leaves in olive oil until wilted. Salt and cover to steam for a few minutes. Uncover and let excess water evaporate. Push kale to side of pan and drizzle a spot with olive oil. Add chopped garlic and pinch of red pepper flakes. Saute until fragrant. Toss all together with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, S&P. Devour.

Loaf of Daily Bread from Full Circle Baking Co. (Penngrove, CA). A favorite for the teething little man.

Organic mixed salad greens from Green String Farm.

Olive Oil Cake from Napa’s La Saison. Not a huge fan of olive oil cake, I LOVED this one after tasting a sample. I can’t wait to dollop it with some Bellweather’s Creme Fraiche, perhaps lightly toasted and paired with a morning coffee?

Mix of summer squash and zucchini from Petaluma Bounty – freshly picked this morning and organic. Destined to be little man’s next batch of squash-potato-cheese puree. Yum!

Dad and son reunite. Aren’t those little toes delicious? Not for sale ladies, sorry.

A flight of wine from La Dolce Vita Wine Bar. We opted for the Petaluma Gap flight which featured a 2007 Chardonnay from Stubbs Estate, a 2007 Pinot Noir from Ridgeway (Two Pisces) and a 2009 Pinot Noir from Cazar (second label for Chasseur). All were lovely, but the Ridgeway took the prize. Delightful.

And not pictured is the grand finale: 1 scoop of Laloo’s Goat Milk Chocolate ice cream for the walk home, where little man promptly passed out.

I love this county.

Guess we won’t be moving any time soon, pricey pizzas be damned.

xo, e

Jul 1

MOO-COW GOODNESS

Nothing quite says Sonoma County grown like Cowgirl Creamery Cheese. Artisanal and organic creamy goodness, it pretty much exemplifies all the things we love about Sonoma County.

I first fell in love with this brand years ago at a fancy wine auction in Napa. Part of a multi-course meal, their Mt. Tam cheese was the cheese course star, served at perfect room temperature and crusted in crushed pistachios. I’d never tasted cheese so divine. From that day forward, my love affair with Cowgirl only grew. Our love affair low point: my 9 month pregnancy-can’t eat rind cheese horror. Our love affair high point: my first taste of Mt. Tam post-baby. Almost as good as that pistachio-crusted Mt. Tam I remember so well.

A few years ago, Cowgirl Creamery cheese moved their production facilities to little ‘ole Petaluma. I wanted to tour their creamery for years now, but was never able to find the time. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that they were opening their doors to the public on the same night as Petaluma’s Wednesday night farmers market opening night. Add in the fact that they were partnering with their neighbor, Three Twins Organic Ice Cream – my new ice cream LOVE – and enough temptation already. There was no way I was missing out on free tours and free samples of my two moo-cow loves.

We packed up the little guy and hightailed it downtown before the market, following the trail of happy ice cream eating customers. The tour was lovely, as were all the Cowgirl Creamery gals and most especially, the cheese samples. There was a curds and whey demonstration, cheese aging examples (see collage below) and I even learned what the born on dates mean on their packages (best eaten 40-60 days after). At the end of the tour, Three Twins gave away samples of their delectable ice cream which little dude tried his hardest to confiscate from us.

If you’re not in the area, be sure to check out Cowgirl’s web page. You can order their cheese online anytime or perhaps join their Artisan cheese club. If you are local and find yourself in Petaluma or Point Reyes, be sure to book a reservation online for their “Milk to Cheese” tour. Delectable free samples included of course!


Jun 28

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WEEKEND VINTAGE SCHWAG

I’ve mentioned before my love for vintage things. Many a weekend morning is spent with our little family walking around the neighborhood scoping out garage sales, getting in early morning lines at area estate sales, visiting favorite antique shops…I do love the thrill of the vintage hunt. My searches tend to gravitate towards 1960s kitchen schwag and vintage photography/camera items, always keeping my eye out for anything VW related for the boy. Sonoma County, especially Santa Rosa, has proven a great mecca for these vintage searches, usually delighting more times than disappointing.

This last weekend I hit the mother load in vintage kitchen schwag. Located just outside Santa Rosa, Oakmont is a retirement community which besides hosting some fantastic estate sales for the mid-century lovers like ourselves, might also be one of the cutest neighborhoods in SoCo. Too bad it’s 55 and older, otherwise I think the boy and I would move there in a heartbeat! Pretty mid-century homes, crazy well-tended yards, vineyard and mountain views, golf course and parks, a plethora of sweet grandparents who would probably babysit little man for free…

I digress. The last estate sale we visited was absolutely fantastic for my vintage kitchen search! I was so excited when I rounded the corner into the kitchen. The dear lady who passed had a fantastic kitchen stuck in the 1960s with every cooking gadget imaginable. And to top it off, she was a woman after my heart and had color themed her kitchen. Everything was in a fantastic 1960s orange and cheery yellow. Love her style! Here’s a peak at the items that are now cozy at home in our kitchen.

Found: Yellow Pyrex Mixing Bowl + Serving Bowls, Cheery Oven Mitts, Tupperware Measuring Cups & Spoons, $10 (!!) Crockpot with Removable Server + Crockpot Cookbooks, Sterling Pie Server, Kitschy Pie Server. Not pictured: Wooden Kitchen Spoons, Dough Scraper and Box Grater. All for a whopping $34.

My favorite thing about buying vintage items? Remembering the original owner when I use and enjoy the items in my day-to-day life. As I cook, I wonder who the owners were (you usually have a general idea after walking through someone’s entire house of personal belongings), how they used the items, where they bought them, what meals they created from them and for whom…when I use their pre-loved items, I can’t help but sense a shadow of that person in the kitchen, cooking right there beside me. Corny I know, but I think Gene would be glad to know her cheery orange and yellow kitchen items went to a good home and are delighted in every day. Don’t ya think?

Jun 25

WORK + BABY = 3 PICS

Huh. Well that didn’t go so well. That whole ‘sharing pics while out and about’ thing. LeSighSoSorry. Apparently, taking your 6 month old and husband along on your work trip is a whole lot of work itself. Between the baby juggling, appointment juggling, husband juggling, hotel room juggling, email juggling and more, the camera took a back seat in the trip. Literally. But alas! Never fear! I’ve got these 3 wonderful photos to share with you to convey 5 days of travel! Here is what they say:

We got to Paso.

We drank great wine. (Alta Colina. Tiny Production. Delicious Wine.)

We visited an ostrich farm.

Fantastic trip, wouldn’t you say??? I adore my trips to these 2 wine areas and wish I could have captured more in photos for you. If you add in your own visions of gorgeous wine vineyard vistas, early morning fog creeping over the Santa Barbara mountain pass, lovely horses in the early morning hours, wine-filled barrels resting quietly in cellars, a couple more bottles of wine, a few fantastic tasting rooms…well, then you’ll have what I didn’t capture on film. Next time I will, promise swear. Even if I have to put the little man in charge of photography.

In the meantime, once again, it’s feels so good to be back in Sonoma County. We’ve got one more trip on the horizon – the fun never ends around here (insert heavily sarcastic tone) – and we’ve promised each other no more travel until September. We need to rest. And to routinize little man’s world. And eat mass amounts of local produce bought at farmers markets. And try out new recipes. And tend our herb garden. And walk around the neighborhood at sunset. And play bocce. And drink great wine. And catch up friends. And more than anything, relish the gorgeousness that is Sonoma County in the summer.

Cheers.

xo, e

Jun 19

SLEEPING IN

Happy Father’s Day! The little man and I let his dad sleep in this morning until 9 am (I can’t even recall what that must feel like!!!) and made him some breakfast in bed. French toast, fresh-squeezed o.j., fresh fruit salad and thick slabs of bacon. Lovely! We are off on a family road trip this afternoon, rolling the windows down and pointing the car south. The wine world of Paso Robles and Santa Barbara call and we’re working from the road while we enjoy sunshine, vino and the open road. I’ll try to post some pics along our journey from outside the Sonoma County line. In the meantime, cheers to all you fathers and father figures out there. You are our rock. Our levity. And many times, our sanity.

xo, -eve

Jun 14

1973 BARBERA TASTING


So remember those old 1973 bottles of Windsor Vineyards Wine from John Brown’s ’73 Retirement party we picked up at a fetching bargain of $2/bottle? Well we finally gave one of them a taste and the results are in!

We decided to start with the Barbera, my thoughts being the higher alcohol and higher tannin inherent in this wine might have somewhat preserved it. And just to be on the safe side, we brought a bottle of Veuve Rose bubbly to wash it all down. But first, let me set the scene:

Summer Sunday BBQ with friends, one of whom is a Napa winemaker and whom we knew would get a kick out of this rare tasting. Ha! He took one look at the level of oxidation within the bottle (the fill line of the wine was well below where it should be) and laughed, probably assuming the same that I was – some red wine vinegar for cooking was in order. But he was game and after veeerrrry carefully extracting the old cork, he poured us a small taste of our vintage brown liquid.

Alas, the wine was actually surprising! Red wine vinegar it was not. Now to clarify – we never bought these bottles in hopes for having some well aged red wines to add to our collection. This was purely fun vintage experimentation at $2/bottle and to see what theories would hold true. So no flowery paragraphical tasting notes will accompany this tasting. Here is what we thought:

She Said (that would be me): Ooooh, looks scrumptious. Like unfiltered, cloudy brown cola. (Sniffs) Interesting! It’s doesn’t smell like vinegar at all! Smells like a dead ringer for the Bristol’s Cream Sherry my great-grandmother used to always drink, that I may or may not have sneaked sips of when no one was watching. Man I loved that sherry. (Takes extremely tentative sip) Mouth Puckering! Whoo! That is dry, dry dry. And oddly tastes like a Fino Sherry. How strange. (Offered second sip) Yea, no thanks.

He Said (that would be the boy): Smells like chocolate. And Kerosene. Actually, the smell hints at promises of a good experience. But alas, the kerosene-smell wins over the chocolate smell. Bad Sherry anyone? Gotta say – I’m disappointed as I had been led to believe we’d at least have some good cooking vinegar.

The Other He Said (that would be the winemaker): Not a scrap of residual sugar left. Bone dry. Interesting. Where’s the Veuve?

So there you have it! What your 1973 California Barbera might taste like. Indeed a fun experiment! It was rather interesting to find out the wine had actually evolved to something beyond vinegar. Not quite drinkable except to the most unique of palettes, but interesting nonetheless. If you’ve been holding on to your own bottles from John’s party, we recommend drinking now rather than later.

Next on the vintage tasting docket: will it be 1975 Pinot Noir, Grey Riesling or Petite Sirah? Stay tuned to see if any of these held up as ‘well’ as the Barbera. In the meantime, cheers!

Jun 13

RADIO SILENCE EXPLAINED

It’s very simple, really.

You see, there was a tropical island calling my name.

And what a great week we had last week! Good-bye rainy 62 degree weather and hello flip flops, sandy beaches and papayas so sweet they could make you cry.

We jumped a plane to Kauai last Saturday for a much needed vacation in which we imposed a strict no-electronics rule in an attempt to completely unplug from life. Other than the emergency baby entertainer (i.e. ipad with wifi turned OFF) we were pretty darn successful. Leaving your cell phones at home seems to be the key. Except for when your baby is running a prolonged 104 degree fever, AGAIN, and there are pediatrician calls and trips to the ER involved. (Spoiler alert: everyone is fine and prepaid calling cards do in fact still exist, but you are going to have to hunt for them yourself because apparently if the store clerk is under the age of 22 it’s pretty much calling card whuhh?) But that was after 6 days in sun and sand and did I mention the meltingly sweet papaya?? So eh, what’s a little ER action after all that fun…

It was a great time and the little man LOVED his first swim in the ocean. But after 7 days away, I was absolutely giddy to be back in Sonoma County which surprised me. I was so ready to leave and recharge, but then with the trip culminating in such stress, I definitely wasn’t feeling rested and revived when we arrived last night at 3am. Had you asked me last night, I would have said No to home and Yes to another tropical paradise week. But SoCo surprised me yet again. The sun was shining, the KRSH was rocking and Whole Foods was a dream come true after a week of $12 burritos. Always such a great feeling to love coming back to the place you call home and Sonoma County delivers, as always.

So now, back to your regular scheduled programming…

Jun 1

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WEDNESDAY NIGHT BOUNTY

Tonight was a treat. It was the first night of Petaluma’s Wednesday night Farmers markets, a tradition for the boy and me. When I was pregnant last summer with the little guy, we started going to this fun market every Wednesday night where I would quickly devour a butter-lemon-sugar crepe from the crepe stand and the little guy would dance in-utero to the band playing. We always had a great time and I’ve been eagerly looking forward to the 2011 season to start again. So after a long day of being out and about with work appointments, it was a treat to have the boy home early so that we could all go together before little man’s bedtime. AND!! To celebrate the kick-off night, Cowgirl Creamery had an open house at their warehouse and they partnered with their neighbors Three Twins Ice Cream – can you say nomnomnomnomnom to free samples from 2 of my favorite places?? I had no idea Three Twins was SoCo based. Longer post on the open house to come later, but in the meantime, the Petaluma Farmers Market is alive and well and I for one and am very excited about it. Here are some snippets of what we saw. xo -e

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